AP Photo

"While adult suicide bombers may experience some 'existential grappling,' young children are unable to process the meaning of ending one's life, especially if rewards are promised in the afterlife." (Indoctrinating Children: The Making of Pakistan's Suicide Bombers)

In the late afternoon of April 3, 2011, in the Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan, an annual Sufi Muslim religious festival at the shrine of the 13th century saint Ahmed Sultan was hit by twin suicide bomb attacks which killed over 50 people and left more than 120 wounded.

As an eyewitness described the immediate aftermath of the bombings, "people started running outside the shrine. Women and children were crying and screaming. It was like hell".

The bombers had struck a few minutes apart, instantly...